This invention relates to a locker installation having a central control unit and, more particularly, to such an installation provided with a memory and a circuit coupled thereto for manual interrogation and display of the occupancy status so as to control the lock opening devices of the respective lockers.
The locker installation of the above-mentioned type is known from German Offenlegungsschrift (laid open Patent Application) No. 2,218,956. According to this document, the responsibility of guards for a customer's safe deposit box vault in a bank have their task made easier by virtue of the fact that a guard located at a central control unit allows a specific safe deposit box to be opened by the customer himself using his personal key, by entering the number of the specific safe deposit box. For control purposes, means are provided for storing data which can be retrieved as necessary to determine which safe deposit boxes have been opened in the course of a day, and which safe deposit boxes are not locked at the moment.
The present invention is based on the fact that in extensive locker installations of the type which are installed in railroad stations, airports, bus stations and the like as luggage lockers, it is extremely inconvenient for users to look for an empty locker of the appropriate size and to be required to carry around with them a comparatively bulky key for reopening the locker to remove the objects stored therein. On the other hand, considerable maintenance is required to keep each individual locker with its coin tester, timer and especially a resettable lock to prevent unauthorized opening with duplicate keys, in operating order.